A new paradigm is emerging among some of the leaders in the industry: to place the consumer first by being transparent. Revolutionary isn’t it? While on paper it sounds like ‘Sales 101: The Customer Is Always Right’, Avi Dan, founder of Avidan Strategies, forecasts that, “the best brands won’t be those with the best stories, or sort of made up fictional stories, but those that will give an accurate and real time picture of what they are doing in the interest of the consumer, at any given time”. Here, we’ll outline three main concepts that expand on this basic idea.
Empathy
“Companies that are honest with people and really trying to make their users’ lives a bit better are the ones that will do best.”
–Jon Jackson, Global Creative Director, Huge
It starts with understanding that your consumers don’t have the time to sit and browse through all the fancy content. They don’t want to deal with all the fluff which can be too distracting. The best approach is to realize that the people you are trying to reach are busier than ever and affording even shorter attention spans. The most common pitfall is providing the consumer with so much information that it just complicates things. You may feel that you are giving your users the best experience, but try opening the floor for a discussion and engage with them. Getting a firsthand opinion can help you understand how your customers interact with your brand. Feedback allows you to connect on a more genuine level so that you can close the gap between you and your users. The shift is to think about the consumer first and how their experience of your brand can leave a positive impression, which will bring them back to you.
Decluttering
“Everyone needs more focus and less clutter of content.”
-Michael Lebowitz, CEO/founder, Big Spaceship
Make it easy, make it fun, and make it friendly! The harder it is for users to browse your pages and find the information they need, the less likely they’ll be to stick around. That’s the thing, when users are navigating your website, it shouldn’t feel like they are ‘navigating’ at all. Your information should be easy to get to and just as easy to understand. Consider implementing a website design that favours simplicity as much as it does design. De-cluttering through simplifying your presentation and keeping the user in mind should be your goal.
The User is King… or Queen
“ I worry that with all the shiny new media toys we all have access to, it’s going to become easier to forget that the User is King.”
-Linda Boff, Global Executive Director of Brand Marketing, General Electric
It is understandable to want to keep certain things private, not reveal too much, yet be transparent with your audience. Unfortunately, that desire leads many brands to limit or skew what they do share. If you aren’t sure where to look for examples of how transparency should be managed, take a note from any big Software developer. Software and Apps get bugs and need to be fixed all the time. These fixes are called Patches. With any new Patch, there will be a set of Patch Notes documenting the bugs and fixes that the new Patch is supposed to resolve. The great thing is that these are archived and are available to anyone who wants to know what is being changed in the software they use. Updating and keeping your users in the loop is just one example but the goal is the same. Connect with your users by creating and maintaining transparency.
By becoming more transparent with your brand, you create genuine user interaction. We would all rather do business with a brand that has our best interests in mind, than a gimmicky brand looking for a quick sale, after all. The transparency shift should make interactions with users feel more authentic and less cookie cutter. Looking to become the next ‘original’ viral hit or trying to develop a cool ‘original’ app just for the sake of being ‘original’ can waste a lot of your time as a marketer. Becoming transparent is original. And by being sincere and honest, your brand will stand above the monotony of brands trying to fake it.